Garner-based Butterball announced today that its CEO and president, Keith Shoemaker, resigned on Monday.

The company didn't give a reason for Shoemaker's departure. No immediate replacement has been named.

In the interim, members of Butterball's board will assume the CEO responsibilities, the company said in a release.

Shoemaker's resignation comes seven months after Smithfield Foods agreed to sell its interest in Butterball.

Butterball is now a joint venture between Maxwell Farms and Seaboard Corp. of Kansas.
 
“Butterball thanks Mr. Shoemaker for his valuable service and for successfully guiding the company through last year’s change in ownership as well as his role in making the company what it is today,” said Walter Pelletier, president of Maxwell Farms and board member of Butterball, in the release.
 
Steven Bresky, president and CEO of Seaboard, said in the release that Shoemaker's departure wouldn't result in any major operational changes. 

“During this transition we do not anticipate major changes in any areas of production or employment," he said.  "It is business as usual.”
 

Maxwell Farms and Seaboard Corp. announced today that they have finalized their purchase of Butterball from a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

The deal was first announced in September.

Smithfield sold its 49 percent interest to Maxwell, which already owned the other 51 percent of Butterball. Maxwell, in turn, sold a 50 percent stake in Butterball to Seaboard of Kansas.

Smithfield, the world's largest pork producer, gave Maxwell Farms an ultimatum in June. It said it would unload its shares of Butterball if Maxwell didn't accept its $200 million buyout offer.

Butterball employs 80 people in Garner, where it moved its headquarters in 2008.

Smithfield sold its Butterball stake for $175 million. Seaboard paid $177.5 million for half of Butterball.
 

Butterball has a new owner.

Late Thursday, Maxwell Farms, which owns 51 percent of the world's largest turkey company, announced that it was partnering with Seaboard Corp. of Kansas to purchase the minority shares now owned by Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

Smithfield said the purchase price is $175 million.

The purchase is expected to be final in early December.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Seaboard and moving forward as the buyer of Butterball, the strongest brand in the turkey industry,” Walter Pelletier, president of Goldsboro-based Maxwell Farms, said in a statement. “Seaboard is a strong, diversified company with a great reputation in the agriculture and food industries, and we are confident the partnership will be mutually beneficial for both companies.”

In June, Virginia-based Smithfield offered $200 million to buy out Maxwell Farms and become the sole owner of Butterball. Maxwell Farms had until Saturday to agree to sell or to buy Smithfield's shares.

On a recent conference call with analysts Smithfield's CEO C. Larry Pope said he expected Maxwell to reject his company's offer.

Butterball was founded in 1954. Two years ago, it moved its headquarters to Garner, where it employs about 80 people. It also employs about 2,500 at a massive turkey plant in Mt. Olive and another in Kinston.

Maxwell Farms is privately held. It began in 1916 as a feed mill, selling bagged feed across eastern North Carolina. It turned its attention to turkeys in 1958.

Seaboard Corp. also has a long history in agriculture. It got its start selling grain in 1918. It is publicly traded under the symbol SEB. It now employs 14,000 people worldwide and has net sales of approximately $3.6 billion annually.

Earlier this year, Seaboard acquired a 50 percent ownership stake in PS International, a commodity trading business in Chapel Hill.

Butterball's future will become clearer within the next few days.

In June, minority owner Smithfield Foods offered $200 million to buy out Maxwell Farms of Goldsboro, which owns a 51 percent stake of the world's largest turkey company. Smithfield set a deadline of Saturday for the offer, and said it would sell its Butterball stake if Maxwell isn't interested in a deal.

This morning, on a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss Smithfield's quarterly earnings, CEO C. Larry Pope said he expects its offer will likely be rejected.

"We would be pleased to be the buyer and would be anxious to run that business," he said. "All indications are that we are going to be the seller."

Butterball could have a new parent before Thanksgiving.

The world's largest turkey company, which moved its corporate headquarters to Garner in 2008, is a joint venture of Maxwell Farms and Smithfield Foods.

But Smithfield, which owns 49 percent of Butterball, isn't happy with the arrangement.

On Thursday, the company announced that it has offered about $200 million to buy Maxwell's 51 percent stake. If Maxwell isn't interested in selling, Smithfield plans to unload its share of Butterball. Smithfield wants a decision by mid-September.